Churchill

Stick with Darkest Hour

I’m not sure what this backroom docudrama is trying to do. If Darkest Hourlauded the man who defied Hitler, is this a kind of bookend exposé of his more misguided side? It’s early June 1944, and the PM’s convinced the imminent D-Day landings will be a disaster, reprising WWI’s Gallipoli, which happened on his watch, and where 500,000 died. But even more upsetting is his apparent marginalization by Eisenhower and Montgomery. No one’s listening to him. He’s depressed. Brian Cox puts in a bravura performance, backed up by Miranda Richardson, but it’s not enough to save this embarrassing mess. (105 min)